News

Trumps golf plan lands in the rough

PLANS by Donald Trump, the American billionaire, to build a luxury golf course in Scotland could be thwarted because part of the site he has chosen is a protected wildlife habitat.

The proposed £300m development at the Menie estate, Balmedie, would include a section of Foveran Links, a European Union site of special scientific interest (SSSI), which is home to the rare feather moss, lichens and other plants.

About eight greens and two ponds would fall within the links, which is prized for 4,000- year-old sand dunes that support rare plants and are home to otters — a European protected species — badgers, eider ducks and skylarks.

The development — which includes two championship courses flanked by luxury homes, a golf academy and a five-star hotel — could also affect another SSSI, the Sands of Forvie and Ythan estuary.

The area is home to dozens of species of rare lichens, plants and mosses including